Nagasu hangs on for ladies national title

ST. PAUL, Minn. Jan. 27, 2008 – On a night when a new generation came to the fore, Mirai Nagasu overcame a fall on her opening double Axel and a third-place finish in the free skate to capture the U.S. title.The ninth grader from Arcadia, Calif., became only the second skater in history to win the U.S. senior ladies crown the season after taking the junior title.

In a quandary for U.S. Figure Skating’s International Committee, the top two finishers, Nagasu and Rachael Flatt, are both too young under International Skating Union (ISU) rules to compete at the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

With their gold and silver medalists unavailable, the committee named bronze medalist Ashley Wagner; fifth-place finisher Bebe Liang; and 2006 world champion Kimberly Meissner, who placed a devastating seventh in Saint Paul, to the 2008 world team.